December 23, 2008

Bush Issues Pardons, But Not in Most-Watched Cases

President George W. Bush has issued 19 new pardons and one new commutation, the Department of Justice said today. Most of the cases on the list involve convictions for financial crimes, drug offenses, or firearm violations. The highest-profile requests Bush has received, including that of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, were not on the list.

The announcement comes one month after a similar round of decisions in which Bush issued 14 pardons and two commutations. He has less than a month left in office.

Among those whose pardons were announced today are a man sentenced in 1949 for exporting a military aircraft to a foreign country to help defend a nascent Israel, a New York developer sentenced in 2003 for mail fraud involving the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a man sentenced in Ohio in 1990 for possession of an unregistered firearm and distribution of cocaine.

The commutation went to Reed Raymond Prior, sentenced to life in prison in Iowa in 1996 for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. His sentence will now expire Feb. 23, 2009. Bush's decision in his case drew applause from Families Against Mandatory Minimums, which says he has overcome his addiction and begun tutoring other inmates.

Eric Charles Blanke - Parker, Colo. Offense: Making impressions of obligations of the United States; 18 U.S.C. § 474. Sentence: July 21, 1995; Southern District of California; three years of probation conditioned on performance of 50 hours of community service.

Steve Doyle Cavender - The Villages, Fla. Offense: Conspiring to import, possess, distribute and dispense marijuana; importing and causing to be imported marijuana; possessing marijuana with intent to distribute; 18 U.S.C. § 371, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 952(a). Sentence: Aug. 6, 1973; Northern District of Alabama; six months in prison in a jail-type institution, five years of probation, two years of special parole.

Marie Elena Eppens a/k/a Marie Elana Eppens - Lynden, Wash. Offense: Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana; 21 U.S.C. § 846. Sentence: June 9, 1992; District of Nebraska; four years of probation conditioned on 60 days of confinement in a jail-type institution on work release, four months of home detention and performance of 200 hours of community service.

Morris Keith Parker - Georgetown, S.C. Offense: Misprision of a felony; 18 U.S.C. § 4. Sentence: Oct. 2, 1991; District of South Carolina; three years of probation conditioned on performance of 150 hours of community service.

Issac Robert Toussie - Brooklyn, N.Y. Offense: False statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 18 U.S.C. § 1001; mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1341. Sentence: Sept. 22, 2003; Eastern District of New York; five months in prison, three years of supervised release conditioned on five months of home detention, $10,000 fine.

Charles Thompson Winters - Miami, Fla. Offense: Conspiracy to export, and exportation, of a military aircraft to a foreign country in violation of the Neutrality Act of 1939; 22 U.S.C. § 448(a). Sentence: Feb. 4, 1949; Southern District of Florida; 18 months in prison, $5,000 fine.

David Lane Woolsey - St. George, Utah. Offense: Aiding and abetting violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act; 16 U.S.C. § 470ee (a) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Sentence: Oct. 6, 1992; District of Utah; three years of probation conditioned on performance of 100 hours of community service.

COMMUTATION:

Reed Raymond Prior - Des Moines, Iowa. Offense: Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute; 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Sentence: April 11, 1996; Southern District of Iowa; life in prison, 10 years of supervised release. Terms of commutation: Prison sentence to expire on Feb. 23, 2009, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions.